Viral pontiff: Francis dances with Hasidic Jews at the Vatican

VATICAN CITY (RNS) It’s rare to see Pope Francis bopping behind the walls of the Apostolic Palace.

Actually, if anyone has ever seen any pope dancing they’ve never said anything, nor filmed it and put it on YouTube.

Yet there was Francis with a smile on his face, grooving to the music with a delegation of Hasidic Jews at the Vatican this week as they serenaded him with guitars and a chant in Hebrew of “Long years shall satiate him.”

If Francis was swaying more than dancing, well, the Argentine pope’s tastes run more to tango. And he is 80 years old and has a sore back.